


Morning Song

by fangirl_squee



Series: homies help homies, always [34]
Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-14
Updated: 2013-06-14
Packaged: 2017-12-14 22:16:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/841982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fangirl_squee/pseuds/fangirl_squee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Grantaire's family basically consists of Marius and Grantaire's sister Claire, so dinner with them is basically a dinner with his entire family. Enjolras tries to stay calm.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Morning Song

**Author's Note:**

> Look at me, writing multiple parts of this in chronological order! Thanks again to everyone who has commented so far, and to tumblr user besanii for betaing this part.

Enjolras rolls over the next morning, stretching his arms. He frowns, opening his eyes when Grantaire isn’t still in the bed. Grantaire usually stays in bed a long as possible, especially on days when he doesn’t have to go in to the university before noon. Enjolras stumbles out of bed, pulling on an old hoodie of Grantaire’s as he makes his way downstairs.

 

There’s singing coming from the kitchen. That’s not unusual, Grantaire has a habit of turning the radio on before he starts breakfast, and Marius likes singing along even though he can only hit half the notes. What _is_ unusual is the woman’s voice coming from the kitchen along with Grantaire’s.

 

Grantaire’s sister is doing the dishes in plaid pyjama pants and a ratty-looking t-shirt that says ‘honorary art student’ while Grantaire dries, drops of soapy water flicking onto his faded ‘I’m with the band’ t-shirt. The two of them bounce along to the music, flicking their hair back and forth to the rhythm of some heavy guitar riff that Enjolras doesn’t recognise.

 

Grantaire looks a little startled to see him in the doorway, and he reaches over to turn to volume down. “Sorry, this didn’t wake you, did it?”

 

“You know me, I tend to wake up early anyway,” says Enjolras.

 

He doesn’t know whether he should help them with the dishes or attempt to start his own breakfast, so he settles for leaning against the table, folding his arms over his chest. It’s a little cool in the kitchen anyway, and the movement warms him.

 

Grantaire’s sister nudges Grantaire with her hip, waggling her eyebrows at him (and Enjolras can see the family resemblance more clearly now). “You _know_ , huh?”

 

Grantaire shoves her a little before he picks up another plate to dry. “Shut up.”

 

She gasps, placing one soapy hand on her chest for dramatic emphasis. “So immature! They’ll never let you into dinner like that!” She looks at Enjolras. “You can still come tonight, right Enjolras? I’m looking forward to the chance to get to know you better.”

 

“Tonight?” says Enjolras, frowning.

 

“Uh, I kind of haven’t asked him yet?” says Grantaire, “I was going to ask last night, but um, then you were busy. With your essay.”

 

Enjolras can feel his cheeks go hot. “Oh. Yes. I was busy.”

 

Claire laughs and nudges Grantaire again with her hip, before turning towards Enjolras. “So, tonight. Dinner, me, you guys, Marius, and Cosette. Sound good to you Enjolras?”

 

Enjolras has got classes all afternoon, but he doesn’t have anything urgent to work on after that. He’s also curious about Grantaire’s sister, if a little nervous about spending such an extended period of time with her. “That sounds fine.”

 

Claire raises her eyebrows at him. “Wow, try not to be _too_ enthusiastic.”

 

“It’s hard to be enthusiastic this early in the morning,” says Grantaire, “I think I need more coffee. Enjolras?”

 

“Yes, please,” says Enjolras, “I’m surprised that you’re up this early of your own accord.”

 

Grantaire laughs, and flicks on the kettle, getting out the mugs. “Well, Claire had an early start, so I figured I’d better come down and make sure she didn’t burn the house down.”

 

Claire slings one arm around Grantaire, ruffling his hair. He swats her away, but they’re both grinning at each other. “It’s okay if you miss me _constantly_ you know.”

 

“Pretty sure it’s _you_ who misses _me_ constantly, but whatever,” says Grantaire, handing a mug to Enjolras.

 

Claire sneaks a hand into his hair, giving it one last ruffle before she heads quickly from the room. “Can’t stay and chat too long boys, I have a speech to give.”

 

Grantaire takes the mug out of Enjolras hands, wrapping him in a loose hug. “Good morning, by the way.”

 

“Good morning,” says Enjolras, into Grantaire hair.

 

Grantaire leans back slightly, keeping his arms around Enjolras. “Sorry I didn’t wake you. Claire got up kind of early and I wanted to have breakfast with her before she headed out.”

 

“That’s okay, she’s your sister. I’m sure you want to spend time with her,” says Enjolras.

 

Grantaire smiles. “It’s good to hang out with her when I can, I mean, I do miss her sometimes. Although don’t tell her I said that, it’ll go straight to her head.”

 

The rest of the morning passes mostly as it normally does when he stays at Grantaire’s. Enjolras scrolls through email updates and online newspapers while Grantaire leans against him making comments here and there. All the petty opinions of newspaper commentators feel less awful with Grantaire there, smiling into Enjolras’ shoulder as Enjolras mutters under his breath.

 

Claire pokes her head around the door on her way past, dressed again in business wear, suitcase and leather folder in hand. “I’ll see you guys tonight.”

 

Grantaire waves the hand that’s not playing with Enjolras’ hair. “Yeah, okay.”

 

“Remember, wear a proper shirt,” says Claire, and disappears. Enjolras can hear her heels clicking until she reaches the patch of carpet at the front door.

 

“A proper shirt?” says Enjolras.

 

Claire laughs as she shuts the door.

 

Grantaire looks up from the screen. “Yeah, apparently Claire wants to go somewhere semi-fancy, this place we used to go when we were kids. Is that okay? I mean, I don’t think it’s too expensive or anything –“

 

“It’s fine,” says Enjolras, “I’ll get changed after class and then come back here to pick you guys up?”

 

“Thanks.” Grantaire leans his head back against Enjorlas’ shoulder.

 

Enjolras leaves it until the last possible moment to start getting ready for class. He normally showers and dresses in a rush, so he doesn’t mind, especially since it means he can spend more time lazing around in the kitchen with Grantaire.

 

When they do get to campus, Grantaire kisses him against the car as goodbye. A couple of passing student wolf whistle at them. Grantaire laughs into Enjolras mouth and Enjolras smiles.

 

Grantaire fiddles with his bag strap a little. “See you tonight then?”

 

“Of course,” says Enjolras.

 

Grantaire’s answering grin lights up his whole face, and the memory of it makes Enjolras smile at odd times during the day. He doesn’t see Grantaire, but that’s not unusual – their classes are almost of opposite sides of the campus. He does see Marius as he leaves work, and Marius waves at him. They’re both heading for the car park.

 

“Grantaire said you’re coming to dinner tonight,” says Marius. He’s beaming at Enjolras, and Enjolras feels as though he means this to be significant although he has no idea why.

 

“I am,” says Enjolras.

 

“Great! I mean, Claire’s been telling Grantaire for _ages_ that they should have a thing like this, you know, a meeting the family sort of thing,” says Marius, “I mean, it’s just her and me, but still! It’s good to be able to see her while she’s down.”

 

_Oh_ , thinks Enjolras. It hadn’t occurred to him to think of it like that. He was going to have dinner with the only member of Grantaire’s family with whom Grantaire was still in contact, and therefore was his only family.

 

Marius, oblivious to Enjolras’ minor revelation, keeps speaking. “And she’s been so curious about you, I mean, obviously Grantaire and I told her some stuff about you, but she’s the kind of person who likes to wait to make a decision about someone once they’ve met them, you know?”

 

They’ve reached Enjolras’ car, and Enjolras fiddles with his keys a little. “I saw her this morning. I’m … not sure that she likes me all that much.”

 

Marius frowns. “I’m sure she does! I mean, the first time I met I spilt a whole,” he waves his hands around, gesturing, “ _thing_ of coffee everywhere, and she still likes me fine. She’s like Grantaire, you know, they both–” Marius’ phone goes off suddenly. “Oh, sorry. It’s Cosette, I should probably –”

 

“It’s fine,” says Enjolras, “I’ll see you later.”

 

Marius nods, smiling as he answers the call. “Hey! Did you still want me to –”

 

Enjolras shut his door, blocking out the rest of Marius’ conversation. Despite Marius’ faith in Claire’s good opinion, Enjolras is still a little nervous. The drive home gives him a small amount of distraction, but his nerves are back once he gets in the door.

 

Combeferre looks up from where he’s stretched out on their couch, reading. “So I heard you’ve got an important dinner tonight?”

 

Enjolras sighs. “Who told you? And also, it’s not that important, it’s just dinner with Grantaire’s sister.”

 

Combeferre looks at him over the top of his glasses. “It’s okay to be a little nervous about meeting his family. I think Cosette is as well.”

 

“Why is _Cosette_ nervous, it’s not even Marius’ family,” says Enjolras.

 

“Grantaire and Claire are, for all intents and purposes, Marius’ adoptive family. Marius doesn’t see his own family anymore, and he did go to stay with Claire for the last holidays,” says Combeferre, “this is meeting the family, for both of you.”

 

“I already met her, yesterday,” says Enjolras.

 

“You didn’t exactly get to speak to her, from what I heard,” says Combeferre.

 

“How do you even know that?” says Enjolras.

 

Combeferre smiles. “Cosette told me. She also asked me to help choose your clothing for the evening.”

 

“I don’t need help picking my clothes,” says Enjolras, indignant. He stares at his wardrobe for ten minutes before sighs loudly and heads back to the lounge room. “Okay, maybe I could use a _little_ assistance.”

 

Combeferre wastes no time in calling Cosette, and the two of them decide on his white shirt and blue suit pants while Enjolras fusses around in the bathroom, trying to tame his hair. Combeferre gives him a reassuring smile as he heads out the door, and for a moment Enjolras almost wishes Combeferre could be there too.

 

Enjolras is thankful for the thought that Cosette will be there. She’s always been a brilliant mediator, so even if Grantaire’s sister had taken a dislike to him, Cosette should be able to stop things from being too awkward.

 

Claire and Grantaire are waiting out the front when he pulls up, both dressed in blues, Claire in a palm-print dress, and Grantaire in a blue and white checked shirt. They both look a lot more comfortable than Enjolras feels, wearing formal clothes with an ease Enjolras wouldn’t have expected.

 

Grantaire slides into the front seat, grinning widely at Enjolras. “Hey.”

 

“Hey,” says Enjolras, glad that his voice comes out steadily, “you didn’t have to wait out the front for me, you know.”

 

“It’s fine, we weren’t waiting that long. Combeferre texted me when you left,” says Grantaire.

 

Grantaire keeps up a stream of chatter as they drive to the restaurant, which means there’s minimal chance of Enjolras saying something to damage Claire’s opinion of him. Enjolras spots Marius’ car as they pull into the parking lot. Marius is offering a hand to help Cosette out as they reach them.

 

Grantaire’s stream of chatter is redirected to Marius, and the two of them start talking over one another. Enjolras and Cosette share a look and she grins at him, squeezing his hand briefly as they enter the restaurant. It’s the sort of place his parents would like, green and blue tones and dark wood.

 

Grantaire and Claire seem to know a lot of the wait staff, smiling at a few of them knowingly, and Claire greets their waiter, an older man, by name even though he’s not wearing a badge.

 

“Any recommendations?” asks Claire.

 

“You’ll just choose the opposite of whatever I say,” says the waiter, grinning at her.

 

“Well, then you’d better give us ten minutes to decide something for ourselves,” says Claire.

 

The waiter nods, smoothly moving off to another table.

 

“Our parents used to take us here for family dinners,” says Grantaire.

 

“Well, they were _supposed_ to be family dinners,” says Claire, smiling a little, “but they’d invite clients and stick us on another table.”

 

Grantaire smiles a little, looking at his menu. “That was way better anyway.”

 

It’s silent while they consider their menus, and after a few minutes their waiter comes back again to take their orders.

 

“So Enjolras,” says Claire, after the waiter disappears to the kitchens, “Grantaire tells me you run an activist group on campus?”

 

_Les Amis_ , Enjolras thinks, _thank god_.

 

He can talk about Les Amis for hours, he doesn’t even really have to think about it. Cosette interjects every once in a while, giving Enjorlas’ more impassioned statements a more moderate edge. When he brings up the conference they’d been invited to, Cosette takes over the tread of conversation, and Claire and Cosette complain good-naturedly about networking until the food arrives.

 

Wordlessly, Grantaire transfers all his green beans to Marius’ plate, and Marius does the same with his pumpkin, and Claire laughs.

 

“What, otherwise it just goes to waste!” says Grantaire.

 

“Besides,” says Marius, “being an adult means you don’t have to eat any vegetables that you don’t want to.”

 

Grantaire nods, and the two of them grin at each other.

 

“You two are an awful influence on Jenny,” says Claire, “don’t ever tell her that.”

 

“Where is Jenny at the moment?” says Marius, “I was kind of looking forward to seeing her as well.”

 

Claire’s smile falters a little. “She’s at her father’s this week. He’s a teacher,” she adds, turning to Enjolras and Cosette, “so she’s probably having a blast hanging out at school with him.”

 

“My father’s a teacher too, at the university,” says Cosette.

 

“He’s a high school teacher, I don’t think your father would know him,” says Claire.

 

“He’s not worth knowing,” says Grantaire brightly.

 

Claire laughs, and it’s a little bitter. “He’s not so bad now that I don’t have to see him every day. Anyway, happier topic – your father works at the university?”

 

Cosette talks about her father, which leads to them discussing old teachers they had. Marius tells a story about one of his old boarding school teachers who fell asleep every time they had a test, and Grantaire shares one of his own about how his chemistry teacher almost banned him from science classes for almost setting fire to one of the labs.

 

“I thought you the reason you almost got banned from those classes was for the time you got caught making out with what’s-his-face in the supply closet?” says Claire.

 

Grantaire laughs. “There were multiple reasons I almost got banned from those classes.”

 

It’s late by the time they leave the restaurant. Marius and Cosette both hug Claire goodbye. The drive back to Grantaire’s place feels a lot less strained, Claire and Grantaire talking about Jenny.

 

“Did you want to come in for coffee or something?” says Grantaire.

 

“Sure,” says Enjolras.

 

Grantaire’s setting the mugs out on the counter when his phone goes off. “It’s the community centre, I’d better get this.”

 

Claire flicks the kettle on, then turns to Enjolras. “Listen, I know Marius already covered the whole ‘threatening sibling’ deal but I just want you to know, if you ever hurt him I will make sure that Marius get out of any charges scot-free.”

 

“Um,” says Enjolras.

 

“Oh, I’m sure it won’t come to that,” says Claire, clapping him on the back, “you seem like a good guy, and my brother’s absolutely crazy about you.”

 

“I – really? I mean, I’m, I quite like him too,” Enjolras manages to say.

 

“Yes, he told me he especially likes your eloquence when speaking,” says Claire, grinning, “anyway, as much as I would love to have coffee with you boys, I have quite the early start tomorrow.” She pats his shoulder again, heading out of the room. “Goodnight Enjolras.”

 

Enjolras hears her add, “Goodnight Grantaire,” as she passes the lounge room.

 

Grantaire comes back into the kitchen and moves towards Enjolras, wrapping one arm around his shoulders. “See, that wasn’t so bad, was it? Claire thinks you’re great.”

 

“Does she?” says Enjolras.

 

“Of course she does,” says Grantaire, “how could she not?”

 

They don’t end up having coffee. Grantaire leans a head on Enjolras’ shoulder as they brush their teeth, and once they get in bed he wraps his arms around Enjolras. Grantaire is very warm, and Enjolras hums contentedly as he rests his head on Grantaire’s shoulder.

 

When Enjolras wakes up he looks across at Grantaire, sunlight warm and bright where it falls across the bed through a gap in the curtains. Grantaire’s lashes are dark against his cheek, breathing deep and even. Enjolras wishes he could wake up to this every morning.

 

_‘My brother is crazy about you’_ , Enjolras thinks, _I certainly understand the feeling._

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> feedback is always loved: fangirl-squee.tumblr.com/ask


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